The European Court of Justice has annulled EU legislation that would have allowed member states to draw up an agreed list of ‘safe countries of origin' for asylum-seekers.
The Court's argument, which it delivered on 6 May, is that the legal provisions must be annulled because they do not involve the European Parliament sufficiently. The Court insists that Parliament should be granted co-legislator powers on drawing up the list. The annulled provisions, which were contained in the 2005 asylum procedures directive, said the European Parliament should only be consulted.
The judgment results from a complaint from the European Parliament, which argued that, according to the treaties establishing the EU, it should be granted co-legislator powers.
No common list of ‘safe countries of origin' has yet been agreed by member states, and different lists exist at national level. The lists are used by national authorities to help them determine whether a person's asylum claim is unfounded. The general principle in the asylum procedures directive is that all claims for refugee status from nationals of ‘safe countries' should be rejected, unless they can present ‘serious grounds' to justify why their country is not safe for them.
The court judgement also annuls similar provisions in the directive for the creation of a common list of ‘European safe third countries', also known as ‘super-safe third countries'. These are states whose respect for human rights and the rights of refugees is deemed sufficiently strong for EU member states not to be obliged to consider asylum claims from people who have passed through them. The argument is that the applicant could have claimed asylum in the ‘European safe third country' prior to reaching the EU. Member states have also proved unable, so far, to agree to which countries should be on this list.
